Words I would like to see not used

In political campaigns I wish the following words were never used again:

Special Interest, socialist, greed, fat cat, out of state money, expert.

Why do I dislike these words? They have ceased to have any independent meaning in a political context. Special interest for example has come to mean any group you oppose or does not contribute to your campaign. Greed means anyone doing well that you don't think is doing things the way you would do them. Making a profit is not being greedy, it is doing what a business is required to do to stay solvent. Here's one for the right. Socialist! A politician who wants bigger government may or may not be a socialist. I believe in his heart Dennis Kucinich is a socialist. In his heart I don't believe Barak Obama is a Socialist. They advocate many of the same principles but I see the way they describe their positions as what sets them apart. I do believe Obama believes in much much larger government but I don't believe that he thinks that government controlling most of the resources is the way to get there.

My point is not just the words, it is the shorthand that political campaigns use to get their points across. Advertising is expensive and by using shorthand buzz words they can send their message in code. One version of the code is that if candidate A is beholden to special interests you can bet they are telling you not that he supports different interests as candidate B but that he does it in a corrupt way. Using this code though, candidate B never has to offer any proof in any way. By saying candidate A is supported by greedy businesses the same thing happens, you are pointing to his lack of core values but you never have to offer any proof of it.

Who gets the blame? If you have ever read anything in this space you know who I blame. I blame you and I. We continue to support the same pinheads every two and six years. No matter how many times they show that they have no respect for their constituents we send them back. Some names to look at next year. Chris Dodd has had very shady connections to Countrywide. He was on the friends list that got sweetheart mortgage deals, all the while being the chairman of the Senate committee that regulates the financial sector. My prediction is that the fact that he brings pork home will far outweigh anything that he has done with Countrywide and he will win comfortably. His state will value the pork over anything else. They might return him just because they have heard of him. Barbara Boxer looks to have a serious challenger next year. She has had some embarrassments this past year and over her career. In the end her war chest and her name recognition will win out. In the last year she has brow beat an African American witness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FoekBjhtWE

she has dressed down a general for calling her ma'am.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pziILAi_Un8

She has been generally an elitist but in the end her pork and power will win out.

In the end Election season 2009 was much like the rest and 2010 will be the same. The candidates will continue to insult our intelligence and we will lap it up like the busy overworked people we are. When we complain that they don't care about us less and less people will be sympathetic, and eventually we will be a banana republic. What else can we do? Support candidates that respect individual liberty (another overused buzzword but I can't think of a better phrase to use) candidates that believe you can improve your life better than they can, and candidates that in their core values believe Washington (or your State capitol) cannot fix your life. I remain hopeful, but not expecting much to change. Good luck!